RIM Boy Goes Public

In an interview published in Saturday's Globe and Mail, RIM's high profile Director Roger Martin took on setting corporate governance back a thousand years and clarifying for the world why RIM is in trouble.  As one commenter posted:

his point of view is no different or any more informed than the yeehaw one finds chewing the cardboard cup at a tim's. if this is a director no wonder the company has been in decline.

With apologies to yeehaw's everywhere.

Martin does make some seemingly shallow comments for someone who is a) dean of a business school b) a recognized governance thought-leader and c) a New England Patriots fan. A couple of examples:

“So we’re supposed to hand it over to children, or morons from the outside who will destroy the company?"

“If we were to say to Jim and Mike, ‘Well, we’re the board and you should go away now,’ they would have laughed at us.” 

People were saying we can’t make powerful phones like Apple. Yes, we can, but we couldn’t believe consumers would put up with that kind of battery inefficiency and that kind of network inefficiency.

The tricky aspect, he says, was the former bosses deciding what they wanted to do. They decided to stay on as directors

Mr. Lazaridis, he says, “is a genius – so having him off the board would be a good idea?” 

The two former CEOs are about more than RIM. Mr. Balsillie founded a global policy institute and pursued hockey teams; Mr. Lazaridis built a physics research hothouse. Had they become distracted when the company needed their full attention?

“I just don’t buy that,” says Mr. Martin, arguing that the outside interests energized the two. “We’re all human beings – they’re not automatons.”

The majority of commenters - surprisingly, even I couldn't resist - weren't impressed.

Sad reflection of the future of Canadian business if this hand puppet actually reflects the quality of business education at UofT.

 This guy sounds like he is just part of RIM's critical mass of arrogance which got them in this mess in the first place.

Martin is in cloud cookoo land if he thinks two CEOs who are busy doing Perimeter Institute, hockey teams, global affairs and other things can succeed.

What doesnt quite ring true here. A touted Harvard business major, keen on sports as a model of business situations; associated for many years with the principals of RIM, doesnt carry the clout to have the captains alter course when he signals iceberg ahead

This guy is quite a load.

One gets the sense from this article that Martin is feeling the heat. He should be. RIM comes off as a high profile screw up and he and his fellow governors come off as sight-seers on the Costa-Concordia (take that Titanic!).

One wonders what fellow Board members, employers and other clients think, if anything - but one poster did go so far yesterday as saying

I will be getting an MBA and I can now safely say that UofT will not even be on my long list. Too much hubris from the dean.

Out of Touch in the Boardroom

You just knew this story was going to get a bad reaction: 'Air Canada pins hopes on service'. From today's Globe and Mail.

I checked the date. It's not April Fool's Day.

Then I checked the comments section of the story. 170 and still growing (the Globe has a nasty habit of shutting down comments on juicy topics - who knows how long this one will stay open). In the first 50 comments, one person actually suggested AC isn't the worst airline in the world....then ended with 'go Westjet go'.

As a modest AC fan, even I had to admit that if this is AC's plan to avoid their second bankruptcy in a few years - they're done.

How does a management group get so out of touch over so many years? Westjet - their prime competition has made their name on service. As AC's market share declines, Westjet's (and Porter's) continues to grow.

One has to wonder what management was thinking. Maybe they thought it didn't matter?

Pardon the pun, but crap just doesn't fly.

It never did.

But today with on-line rating systems, comment sections, travel advisory sites, blogs and Facebook death is swift, obvious and brutal. I got stuck in a Westjet scew-up a while ago and participated with other passengers in berating their service site from our Blackberries - WHILE WE WERE STILL IN LINE (I even got a response)!

The other day I saw an airport rating site. You don't want to know what the word in the air is about YYZ.

So, poor Air Canada. It seems unlikely that years of creating a bad reputation will be undone in time to save them (although if they're looking for some clues Jeff Jarvis' Dell service story would be a good place to start). It's too bad.

It's not like a Westjet monopoly is a terrific outcome.

For a sampling of some heartfelt thought on AC, check some of these out:

You do NOT have a superior product. Start with a big bowl of reality soup and then talk to reporters. You airline is overrun with mediocre people doing a sub-par job. Deal with it.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.......Service? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.... Really? Service?

Arrogant SOB's huh?

GO WESTJET!!!

'Air Canada reported Friday that it lost $1-billion last year.'

“It is small comfort that our loss was the result of factors outside of our control – soaring oil prices, foreign exchange losses due to a drop in the Canadian dollar, and the slowing economy,” Mr. Brewer said.'

Yet.... under those same conditions, Westjet was profitable. Strange isn't it. Those condtions weren't under Westjet's control, yet they made money... hmm.....